This invention pertains to suspended ceiling systems, and more particularly pertains to a suspended ceiling system constructed from a lightweight, pliable material, such as extruded or injection molded plastic, for suspension from an overhead surface.
The home remodeling industry has increased dramatically in recent years as more and more homeowners are taking matters into their own hands when the decision is made to remodel or redesign their dwellings. Among the primary remodeling projects are adding rooms to a house, enlarging a kitchen to increase the shelf space and cooking area, turning a cement basement into a game room or family room, and installing a drop--or suspended--ceiling to cover unsightly rafters, electrical conductors, and duct work and provide an aesthetically appealing overhead surface of ceiling tiles and lighting fixtures. Numerous chain and retail stores sell the tools and equipment to engage in a home remodeling project, and among the better known stores are Home Depot, 84 Lumber, Busy Beaver, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart.
The simplest type of suspended ceiling structure includes metal wall angles for attachment to the walls of a room, metal main runner members or cross-T's and metal cross braces for spanning the room and forming a grid beneath the overhead ceiling for supporting ceiling tiles or panels within the grid formed by the main runner members, cross-T's and cross braces. Various types of hanger structures or devices are used to hang the runner members, cross-T's and cross braces from the rafters or beams forming the overhead ceiling.
There have been numerous improvements to the simple, above-described suspended ceiling structure, and the improvements have been in the materials out of which the structural components are manufactured, improvements in the method or manner the various structural components are joined to each other, and improvements in the method or manner of suspending the structural components from the overhead surface.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,224 discloses a sub-ceiling grid system whereby the main runners and the cross runners are interlocked together by splices for forming a clipless grid system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,498 discloses a wooden suspended ceiling using locking blocks for attaching the cross beams to each other. U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,876 discloses a suspended woodbeam ceiling in which the crossbeams are suspended by locking clips and U-shaped connectors. U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,700 also discloses a suspended woodbeam ceiling with specially designed locking clips.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,200 discloses a wooden suspended ceiling system comprising wooden runners and cross members shaped to interconnect with each other to form a rectangular grid system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,709 discloses a suspended ceiling system having wooden main beams and cross beams connected together by wooden blocks.
Other suspended ceiling structures include U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,666 which utilizes a center beam from which ceiling tiles can be erected in serial rows, the suspended ceiling system of U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,020 wherein wooden crosspieces and runners are interconnected to form a grid system, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,119 which discloses the utilization of simulated woodgrain risers resting upon flanges of the grid members.
However, despite the ingenuity of the above suspended ceiling systems, there remains a need for a suspended ceiling system which is lightweight, easy to install, and requires only the simplest of tools to assist in the installation.